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CD-ROM Magazin 1995 July/August
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CDROMMAG.ISO
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spiel
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ginrummy
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readgin.txt
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1995-04-15
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GIN RUMMY (Version 3.02) - READGIN.TXT
======================================
Gin Rummy is probably the best known member of the Rummy family of card
games. Gin Rummy is believed to be the first fully-comprehensive shareware
Gin Rummy game available for Microsoft Windows.
You play against the computer, which can be set to use a number of different
skill levels. At expert and champion level, the computer is hard to beat and
provides a very challenging game.
Customizable features include:
Colors
Sound effects
Card backs
Screen resolution (600x480 or 800x600)
AutoMouse (moves mouse pointer automatically between deck and hand)
Opponent skill level
Rule variations
The only installation requirements are that GINRUMMY.EXE, RUMCARDS.BMP,
GINRUMMY.HLP, and the wav files reside in the same directory; and that
VBRUN300.DLL and VBCTL3D.VBX are present in your path (typically in the
windows\system directory). VBCTL3D.VBX is included with this distribution.
VBRUN300.DLL should be downloaded separately if you don't already have it
on your system.
To use the sound effects, you must either have a sound card installed in your
system, or have the speak.exe driver installed to use your system's regular
speaker. Speak.exe is a freely distributed product from Microsoft, and is
available on most online services and bulletin board systems. Gin Rummy is
distributed with a few sound files, others may be obtained from libraries on
most online services and bulletin board systems. To enable sound effects,
you must check the "Enable Sounds" box from the "Sounds..." option under the
"Configuration" menu. Remember to "Save Configuration" to make the setting
permanent.
Gin Rummy is shareware, and is fully functional. You may evaluate this
program for a period of 21 days after which you must register it or remove it
from your system. To not comply with this condition is a violation of United
States and international copyright law.
You register your copy of Gin Rummy by sending $12 (check or money order,
U.S. funds only) to:
Carol Bufton
58 Prendiville Way
Marlborough
MA 01752
USA
There is a printable order form under the "Help" menu of Gin Rummy.
You will receive your registration code by mail. The registration code is
encoded from your name, so be sure to provide your name exactly as you wish
to be registered. Please allow 28 days for your registration to arrive,
although every effort will be made to mail your registration within 5 days.
Your registration code licenses you to use the version of Gin Rummy that you
are currently evaluating, irrespective of which is the latest version
currently available on America Online, CompuServe, or registered diskette.
Your registration may also be valid with future versions as they become
available.
****************************************************************************
IMPORTANT NOTE: MeggieSoft Games does not process any registrations between
December 15th and January 15th. Any registrations received during this
period will be processed after January 15th. The registration reminder
will not be displayed between December 20th and January 15th.
****************************************************************************
If you require a diskette (3╜" only), add $3 making the total cost $15. The
diskette version may contain a later version of Gin Rummy if improvements
have been made since the release of your evaluation copy. Because we cannot
track which versions are currently available at what locations, it is
possible that Gin Rummy will have been updated since your evaluation copy
unless you downloaded a recent version from CompuServe or America Online.
You may not share your registration code with others. Your registration
permits you and other users to use Gin Rummy on any single-user computer
system. You may also use Gin Rummy on any other computer system of which you
are the primary user, such as a laptop.
You may distribute Gin Rummy (as shareware) to others provided that you
derive no revenue other than that associated with distribution, and provided
that you distribute the following, and only the following, files intact:
READGIN.TXT - This file
GINRUMMY.EXE - The program
GINRUMMY.HLP - The help file
FAQGIN.TXT - The "frequently asked questions" file
RUMCARDS.BMP - The card images
VBRUN300.DLL - The Visual Basic Runtime
VBCTL3D.VBX - The Visual Basic 3D Effects extension
To use Gin Rummy you need Microsoft Windows 3.1 and a mouse (with at least
two buttons). An Intel 386 class system with 4 megabytes of RAM is
recommended as a minimum. Gin Rummy has not been evaluated on less capable
systems, but should present no problems other than responsiveness and speed.
You are recommended to take advantage of the comprehensive help file
information in order to learn how to play Gin Rummy. Perhaps the best
first step to learning Gin Rummy is to use the "Player | AutoPlay"
option and watch the computer play against itself. Enjoy!
Revision History
----------------
Version 1.x - Development versions.
Version 2.0 - Beta test version
Version 2.1 - First shareware release. Fully functional.
Version 2.2 - Minor improvements and problem fixes.
Version 2.3 - Resolved display and memory problems with higher color
resolutions. (RUMCARDS.BMP is now WMF metafile format).
- Removed dependency on CMDIALOG.VBX (no longer required).
- If scoreboard file is damaged, choice of reset or exit
(in case the user can restore it) is offered.
- Fixed problem when opponent would meld ace high when "Ace
Must Be Low" was selected.
- Fixed problem where opponent could meld four of a kind and
not retain a card to discard.
- Fixed problem of turn counter sometimes not being correct
after "undo".
- Fixed problem when hint before undo caused the undo to fail.
- Revised opponent algorithm for taking a card to avoid
taking and discarding the same card from the discard pile.
- Improved "Champion" and "Master" skill levels to be more
aggressive in seeking undercut opportunities.
Version 3.0 - Added custom card back capability to support user defined
card designs (WMF format).
- Added "Trim Corners" option to display cleaner card images
on more powerful systems.
- Added capability to remember custom color definitions
between sessions.
- Added "Series Scoring" whereby three sub-games are scored
and recorded as a single game (like Hollywood but without
the "carry forward" from sub-game to sub-game).
- Enhanced scoreboard capabilities now display skill level
the date played. Display colors are customizable from
the "Configuration | Colors" menu option. Previous
scoreboard data are automatically converted with a skill
level of "Unknown" and a date of "1/1/94".
- Scoreboards can now be displayed for all games or only
those against a specific opponent skill level.
- Scoreboards can now be displayed for all scoring methods
Standard, Series, Hollywood) or only those against a
specific method.
- Added "AutoMouse - Dialogs" to extend the AutoMouse feature
to and from messages and information windows.
- Undo now deselects highlighted cards (even if there is
nothing else to undo).
- Fixed a number of minor problems.
3.01 - Fixed "Input file not found" problem at end of round.
- Scoreboards now display skill level
3.02 - Fixed problem with "No Layoff on Gin" whereby non-knocking
player was prevented from laying down any cards.
(Corrected method is to allow meld laydowns but not laying
off on knocker's melds.)
- Revised date calculations and removed need for msafinx.dll
file.
- Cleaned up detection and termination of second instance
when Gin Rummy is already running.
- Cleaned up detection of when and how scoreboard has changed
since it was loaded (for "do you want to save.." prompts).
⌐ MeggieSoft Games 1995. All Rights Reserved.